Garden

I was inspired by one of my hostesses to plant a vegetable garden. I was excited about the idea of having some fresh veggies at our fingertips...and saving some money. This last weekend I was determined to get one going. I roped Tyson into helping me and we created a raised bed which we filled with apparently “the most fertile soil in Oregon”. Good news for my plants, bad news for me...I can’t blame the dirt if they don’t grow:) We had a fun time as a family getting our hands dirty (Kai’s entire body was covered with dirt) and creating something together. We got our vegetables in the ground this week and now we are just waiting and hoping for the fruit of labor. Some of the plants are already looking a bit limp but I’m hoping it is from the transplanting and they will perk back up in a few days. I don’t have much of a green thumb but it will be fun for Kai and I to tend. We planted lettuce, broccoli, onions, sweet peppers, jalapeño peppers, 3 kinds of tomatoes, cilantro, chives and basil. I also planted carrot seeds and pumpkin seeds so we will see if those come up. I’ll let you know how it goes. If anyone has any advice I am way open!

Working Hard

Before

After

Beer & BBQ

Last weekend we went to a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity....Beer & BBQ Festival. There was tons of yummy food and beer and live music. Kai found his own little stage to perform on, he's so shy...ha!

Silly Faces...

Daddy's Day

Tyson and Kai had lots of boys' time this weekend since I was out of town. I came home Sunday and was able to celebrate Father's Day with them. We let Daddy take a nap, gave him a beautiful card Kai colored and a gift. Then we went out for a late lunch before we let Tyson go golfing...and it was a beautiful day for that finally! That evening we hung out as a family...time that is precious to us! Kai began to get a little grumpy so we piled some couch cushions on the floor and he and Tyson jumped and wrestled for a long time...they were both quite entertained! I am blessed to be Tyson's wife...not only is he a wonderful husband but he is an amazing father! I love to watch Tyson and Kai together...Tyson is always so creative in their play, making Kai squeal and laugh but always teaching him at the same time. This last week Kai has began to give us hugs...real ones. We have obviously always hugged him but he has begun to wrap his arms around us a squeeze...it was so precious to watch him run up to Tyson at the softball field yesterday and jump in his arms and squeeze him tight. I love watching them together. ..it brings joy to my heart!

Beach Pics

Bachelorette Beach Bash

This weekend I had the joy of spending Friday and Saturday night at the beach celebrating my friend, Erin, at her bachelorette party! It was a fun time with good friends, yummy food and drinks, and even some sunshine! In less than 20 days we will be celebrating the marriage of Erin & Erik and we are all looking forward to it! Thanks ladies for a fun weekend!

Spins and Kisses

The other day Kai and I were singing "If You're Happy and You Know It"....he decided that when he is happy and he knows it he likes to spin in circles. This has been regular occurrence since then when he gets excited (or wants to get some laughs).

Zion

Well the rest of our vacation was wonderful too! The rest of our time in St. George we did some golfing (real golf for Tyson & Wayne, driving range for the rest of us), played lots of Mexican Dominoes (my new favorite game), played some tennis, rode ATVs (see below), did some swimming (even though it didn't get that warm...but we had to take advantage of the great pools) and we did some relaxing. After St. George we headed back to Vegas for a night. We ran around as a family trying to see some fun stuff while were had time. We saw the fountain at the Bellagio and some canals with gondolas at the Venetian, and a "less clothes than expected" show outside of Treasure Island...not at all like last time I was there! The next morning Troy and Kari had to fly out early and the rest of us had to be out of the room by noon. We took a quick swim in the pool which was awesome. The place where we stayed was wonderful and had three different pools. We chose the lazy river to hang in for a while. Kai floated in his tube with all of us floating around him...the center of attention yet again, he was in heaven. We got Kai a quick nap before heading out for the rest of the day. We walked around The Strip again and Tyson and I got to go on the roller coaster at New York New York. That had to be the best highlight for me. I LOVE roller coasters and this was the FIRST time we have gone on one together...sad but true. I guess we don't have many roller coasters handy here in Oregon but still! Anyway after that everyone else headed to the airport and we went back to the resort. We no longer had a room but it seemed a better place to hang than the casinos. It ended up being a good choice and we had a semi-relaxing afternoon/evening before heading to the airport for our 9pm flight. Question: has anyone ever taken a baby in a taxi? Is it normal to not use a car seat and just hold your child on your lap? This is what our driver told us to do, acting as if it was weird that I wanted to strap in his car seat. We made it safely and it was only a 5 minute drive but it was a little weird. Kai did pretty well on the flight. I stood in the back of the plane bouncing him to sleep forever only to finally get him to sleep (a miracle in itself) and find the drink cart just past our isle. So, I continued bouncing until it got back to me. I finally made it back to my seat only to settle in and immediately have Kai start thrashing like a wild animal in his sleep. It was a full flight so we had a lady right next to me...a lady who had no children...but she was relieved to find she was very sweet and understanding. After all, she did have a naughty cat at home! He did go back to sleep and slept the rest of the way home. This was really such a wonderful vacation for so many reasons. It was so fun for us to spend a whole week with Tyson's family. It is always a blessing to me to for Kai (and us of course) get to be with family since we don't have any close. It was wonderful for us to spend a full week together without the coming and going of our day to day life. It was truly quality time! And in general, we stayed at amazing places and saw amazing things. I will post a few pictures below. I don't have any of Vegas because after seeing the beauty of Zion the lights of Vegas just didn't compare:)

Telling Daddy a story about his rocks

Yes, he is now running!

In the pool with Daddy

This is on the shuttle in Zion. Kai was literally hanging from the ceiling. He was getting pretty restless and Tyson was trying to entertain him. Not the safest way to keep your kid happy but Tyson was pretty proud Kai was strong enough to hang on his own.

ATVs

One of the highlights of our vacation for Tyson was that we rented ATVs one morning. I have to admit it may have been a highlight for me too...it was super fun! When I first got on and rode about 100 yards on this "practice" area I was freaked out. I honesty wanted to quit and not do it, which is not like me, but it was a lot of power for this little lady! But, I got the hang of it pretty quick and had a great time. Plus, I know my husband and quitting does not fly:) The only glitch was that Troy (who did end up being about to make it out for a few days) had a "little" spill (off a ledge!!!) and had to go to the hospital to get checked out...thankfully he was fine! It was a fun time (other than that) and it was a beautiful area with lots of red rock and huge sand dunes!